Written entirely by myself this time, I present:

Stanley and the Narrator Have Feelings Pt. 2

WARNING: Stanley has multiple mental breakdowns and once again, cheesy but also angsty this time. Also it’s over 7,000 words

There once was a man named Stanley who was employee #427. He had been dwelling in the empty work building for quite some time over various endings, and with that he had made new friends like the adventure line and the narrator. Whenever the timeline restarted, the adventure line remembered everything, but the narrator didn’t always remember. Sometimes he did and sometimes he didn’t, which frustrated Stanley to no end. He wouldn’t have minded if it didn’t happen time and time again, when he would have to introduce himself and the narrator wouldn’t remember what they had been through together. Although, he would admit that sometimes it was a blessing when it came to bad endings.

Even so, the timeline had reset after a good ending this time. A really good ending where Stanley and the Narrator had confessed their love for each other. Stanley was frozen at his desk as the narrator did the intro as usual.

“…When Stanley came to a set of two open doors, he entered the door on his left,” the narrator, well, narrated.

After a pause, Stanley remained at his desk, looked up at the ceiling, and meekly said, “Do you remember?”

If the narrator had a physical form, he would have his hands on his hips.

“You know I don’t always remember the timelines, you’ll have to be more specific than that. Anyways, we have to get going! Lots of endings to get to!”

Stanley curled in on himself.

“I’m assuming you don’t?”

The narrator softened and did the equivalent of titling his head. Stanley stared at the ground.

“No. Did I forget something important? If so, you must tell me, Stanley.”

Stanley shook his head and tried to compose himself. His smile at the ceiling disappeared as he looked back down and headed to the two doors without a word.

“Stanley, you have to talk to me! I won’t know unless you tell me!”

“It’s fine, let’s go.”

“Stanley, stop! We obviously have more time than I’ve said, I’m sorry! Stanley!”

Stanley continued on the path through the left door, into the control room, and pressed the off button. The narrator kept trying to reach him to no avail. Stanley started to walk toward the opening door.

“Stanley, get back here this-“

And the world began anew.

Stanley huffed and key smashed to all hell once he respawned at his desk.

“I remembered the last one this time,” the narrator huffed, “Are you going to get off your high horse and explain what’s going on?”

“No thank you.”

“Why? You know it’s not my fault!”

“Well maybe it’s because I always remember, the adventure line always remembers, everyone always remembers except for you! Yes, it’s not your fault and yes, it’s out of your control, but do you have any idea how painful it is to have to watch you grow and learn and become so much happier and then watch the timeline throw it all away?! In the last one, we did things together as a team! I led sometimes, you led sometimes, the adventure line led sometimes, and we had something! We had something, Narry! It was such a good ending, the perfect ending, but now it’s all gone! It’s gone, Narry! It’s all gone!”

Stanley had begun to wail and the narrator was a bit verklempt himself. Just how much did he really forget? How could comfort his companion without that knowledge?

“Goodness, Stanley, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

While his wailing had died down, Stanley was in no state to answer with harsh sniffles and quiet sobs coming out of him every few seconds.

“It’s okay, Stanley, stay right there and take as long as you need to compose yourself. I’m going to ask adventure line, but I’ll be back okay? Deep breaths, Stanley.”

The narrator drifted into the storage room and called out to adventure line. The yellow thing popped their arrow-shaped head from the ground and whimpered, having heard Stanley’s cries.

“There you are, I could really use your help, good fellow. Stanley is unwell and I need to know what I forgot so I can tell him it’s alright and that I remember again.”

The adventure line whimpered again before making what can only be described as a series of squeaks. They roughly translated to this:

“Stanley like you. Like you a lot. You like him too. Friends. Kisses. Lots of time together. Memories impossible.”

In a more coherent manner, they were basically saying that Stanley and Narrator became friends, fell in love, and that they made so many memories together that the Narrator wouldn’t be able to remember them from Adventure Line’s description alone.

The narrator blushed before frowning intensely.

“That’s awful. I can’t possible make Stanley feel better with that. Thanks for you help anyway, Adventure Line.”

The yellow thing nodded and slapped its face back into the floor. The narrator drifted back into Stanley’s office. Only soft sniffles remained.

“How are you feeling, Stanley?”

Stanley gave the ceiling a look.

“I know, but I really don’t know what else to say. I now know what we had Stanley. But I can’t say that we can replicate and make it like it was before. I don’t remember how to do that, and you’ll always remember how it used to be.”

Stanley nodded, finally wiping his eyes. He was a tad embarrassed that the Narrator had found out, but he put his trust in his omnipotent companion.

“I am fairly composed as you would say,” Stanley stated.

“Alright then,” said the Narrator, “If it’s okay with you, please tell me something, Stanley. Tell me anything you’d like.”

And with that, Stanley explained how their previous bond had formed:

It had started the day that all the official endings had finally been complete. While the Narrator didn’t remember the means to an end (quite literally), he always had a sense of what endings had been completed. He read the intro and looked at the endings list while waiting for Stanley to get up from his desk.

“We’ve finished all the endings,” the Narrator mumbled.

“What?” Stanley questioned.

“We’ve finished all the endings, Stanley. All of them. I have no more official endings. Not to mention the writer’s block I’ve been having lately.”

“…That’s it?”

“Yes. That’s it.”

Stanley suddenly rose from his seat.

“THAT’S IT?!”

“Hush your mouth! It took me a lot of work, Stanley! And it took you a lot of work to complete them as well! Don’t be ungrateful.”

“Oh, so I shouldn’t be concerned about the fact that I’m never getting out of here, I’m stuck with a god-forsaken voice in my head, and the closest I’ve going to a good ending is almost escaping, but never actually stepping outside? God, this is all so meaningless.”

Stanley buried his face in his hands and screamed. That was all there was for him, wasn’t it?

“Stanley, that’s- I- Oh, it’s complicated, alright? It’s not easy for me to do this. I have been told to make a certain number with certain qualities and I don’t know what will happen if I don’t.”

Stanley took a breath.

“You’re omnipotent. Pardon my French, but you could kick ass and instead you’re just gonna sit there?”

“I never truly make the decisions, dear boy.”

“So why don’t you?”

The narrator was taken aback.

“…I don’t think I know.”

“Let’s do something off script then.”

“I don’t know about this, Stanley.”

“Come on, Narry, one small thing?”

“Really? Narry?”

“Fair point, but back to the true topic: What are we doing?”

“…We are going to play a game?”

“Okay…what game?”

“Eye spy…In the broom closet?”

“Good place to start.”

====

After carefully making their endeavors more and more adventurous, the Narrator and Stanley were wandering around with no true location in mind. As they entered the storage room, Stanley saw a yellow line he’d never seen before.

“Narry. Am I losing it or is that yellow line new?”

“Stop calling me Narry,” the narrator blushed (not that Stanley could see it LOL), “And it both is and isn’t.”

“How is that- AHHHHHH!”

Stanley jumped as a yellow arrow head rose from the ground right next to him.

“Calm yourself, Stanley. It’s just the Adventure Line.”

Stanley held his heart and took some breaths, looking over to adventure line.

“Christ, don’t sneak on me like that without a warning next time.”

The adventure line squeaked apologetically and gently wrapped itself around Stanley.

“Aw, it likes you, dear boy!”

“I will admit, this is okay.”

Stanley thought it was cute that the narrator was so excited, but also concerned that he was thinking that the narrator was cute. Did omnipotent beings even feel attraction? He secretly hoped so.

====

“Stanley, you seem off today. Are you alright?”

Stanley had been dragging his feet around the map despite the promise of a few new buttons to push, which was one of his favorite things even after so long.

“No,” he said bluntly, “Leave me alone.”

“We can save the buttons for later. Let’s have a chat.”

With a sigh, Stanley sat in the employee’s lounge, saying nothing.

“Talk to me,” the Narrator said softly.

Stanley lost some of his resolve at that.

“I miss my home,” he mumbled.

“Can you speak up a little?”

“I MISS MY HOME!”

Stanley was suddenly teary eyed.

“What do you miss about it?”

“I miss my friends, eating my favorite foods, wearing comfy clothes, my dog, oh god, my poor dog…”

“I’m sure he’s alright, Stanley. Someone must have noticed that you’ve been gone.”

“But does anyone? How can we know?”

“I…suppose we don’t. We just have to hope, I guess.”

“That doesn’t help at all!”

“I know, Stanley. Just let it out.”

As the tears continued, the narrator put on some quiet, calming music and asked the Adventure Line to bring Stanley a blanket. The yellow thing draped the cloth over the man and curled around Stanley with a comforting squeeze.

The sounds of sorrow faded into hushed snores.

====

“And that’s a good chunk of it,” Stanley finished after mentioning many more memories, including the one of the previous ending.

The narrator frowned. “Wow. That’s a lot to forget.”

“…yeah, it is.”

“I’m sorry, Stanley.”

“Not your fault.”

“I know, but still.”

Awkward silence. Stanley stared up at the ceiling and fidgeted nervously.

“…It’s kind of a big ask and you don’t have to, but could we find your body again? I, um, kind of miss talking directly to you.”

The narrator smiled.

“I think that’s a splendid idea. Remind me how to get there?”

“Of course!”

Stanley smiled as well and off they went.

As he merged with the metal, the narrator never felt more at home. He sighed contently and stretched out his new bones.

“This is even better than I expected.”

Stanley didn’t hide his joy this time and grinned widely. However, he did resist the temptation to grab the narrator’s hands, no matter how cool and pretty they looked.

“Adventure Line, could you fetch me some tapes, please?” The narrator whispered.

Although he would never tell Stanley directly, Stanley heard the Narrator recording all the memories and important things he had heard that day.

I got sucked into the Stanley x Narrator ship so I present to you: A falling in love fic collab with ai dungeon

Stanley and The Narrator Have Feelings

WARNING: Very cheesy, I was just having fun with it so yeah

This is the story of a man named Stanley. Stanley worked for a company in a big building where he was employee #427. Employee #427’s job was simple: he sat at his desk in room 427 and he pushed buttons on a keyboard. Orders came to him through a monitor on his desk, telling him what buttons to push, how long to push them, and in what order. This is what employee 427 did every day of every month of every year, and although others might have considered it soul rending, Stanley relished every moment that the orders came in, as though he had been made exactly for this job. And Stanley was happy. And then one day, something very peculiar happened, something that would forever change Stanley, something he would never quite forget. He had been at his desk for nearly an hour when he realized that not one, single order had arrived on the monitor for him to follow. No one had shown up to give him instructions, call a meeting, or even say hi. Never in all his years at the company had this happened, this complete isolation. Something was very clearly wrong. Shocked, frozen solid, Stanley found himself unable to move for the longest time, but as he came to his wits and regained his senses, he got up from his desk and stepped out of his office. All of his co-workers were gone. What could it mean?

This is what Stanley had thought of around a month ago. He was now fully aware of his situation and in figuring it out, he got to know the Narrator. The Narrator was the one who had given the orders, who had told Stanley exactly what to do, when to do it, and in what order. Stanley didn’t always obey, but that kept things interesting, when the Narrator ordered him around that was. Nowadays, Stanley and the Narrator decided on adventures together, as their fondness for each other had grown.

One day, the Narrator told Stanley that he had a surprise for him. “I have a delivery for you today,” he said. “From a friend of mine.” “The adventure line?” Stanley guessed with a smile. The narrator chuckled, “You’ve guessed it”.

Stanley was led to a giant shipping container, just like the ones on the docks. The container was at least fifteen feet tall and as wide as a house. “Can I open it?” Stanley said excited. “I’ve never seen it opened!” The Narrator gave in and told Stanley he could open the container.

Stanley looked at the container with wonder. “How do you open it?” he asked. The Narrator laughed, as he had expected the question. “I made you a button,” he told Stanley with a grin. Stanley fidgeted excited, awaiting the button.

A platform slid away on the ground and a pedestal rose up to Stanley’s abdomen. A red button the size of Stanley’s hand shone in the light of the storage room. Stanley looked up at the ceiling, as if waiting the narrator’s permission.

“Don’t wait up on me, dear boy! Go ahead,” the Narrator said. And with that, Stanley gently slammed the button and the container opened. He was surprised to see a pile of boxes stacked at the top, but he was even more surprised when he opened one and saw a robot the size of a refrigerator inside. “He could keep us company!” Stanley exclaimed to the Narrator, “Or maybe you could posses him so we can do a hand shake!” The Narrator agreed and told Stanley to do whatever he wanted, as he always did.

Stanley looked at the robot for a moment and said, “I’ll play with him later. For now, I need to find a power switch, or else…”

“Go ahead and move him around,” the Narrator said, “I trust your judgement."The narrator would never admit it, but Stanley’s remark about the handshake had him thinking. Wouldn’t it be nice to meet Stanley’s eyes and hold his hands and sit beside him. He spoke up saying, “You can still do whatever you want, Stanley, but I would not be opposed to a handshake.” And once again, Stanley was surprised. "That’s not a big deal, is it?”

“Oh no, not at all,” the Narrator said. Stanley tried to contain his joy as the narrator possessed the robot. The narrator was much taller than him now, but he was not afraid. “Oh goodness,” the narrator joked, “You still have to look up at me even now!” And with that he gave the robot a test run. It didn’t move, and he laughed. Stanley pulled him towards him, giggling as well. Stanley thought the narrator’s hands were pleasantly cool and the narrator thought Stanley’s were pleasantly warm. “I like this,” Stanley whispered. The narrator nodded for the first time in his life. Stanley laughed with glee. As the narrator got used to his new body, he was also getting used to Stanley’s touch. He needed help sometimes and Stanley was there for him. Despite being of metal, it made him feel warm inside. It’s been so long since someone made him feel that way, he thought. He decided to test out a funny habit Stanley had: Pressing buttons.

He pressed the big red button from earlier. It gave him a type serotonin he never knew existed. He spammed the button saying, “I now understand why you like this, Stanley” he said. But then he pause, sulking a little bit. He apologized, “I’m sorry I made fun of you, Stanley.”

Stanley looked up at him and his eyes appeared to soften. “I know,” he said, “It wasn’t very nice, was it?”

“It’s quite all right,” Stanley said, “It’s good to have someone who can get a laugh out of me.” The two of them laughed for a bit, until the narrator realized something. He blushed as he asked, “Can I give you a hug, Stanley?”

Stanley gave a shy little laugh, and the two of them embraced. The narrator felt his cheeks warm up. He was never this emotional, he thought. He pulled away and said, “Dear boy, I think I need to sit down. Too many feelings.”

Stanley nodded in understanding, holding out his hand for the narrator to take. The narrator took it gently as they headed to the employee’s lounge. The building had been empty for many years, but the couches were still comfortable, and the Narrator enjoyed the feeling of being able to sit.

Stanley sat down as well and hummed, content to simply be in the narrator’s presence. The narrator felt nice, too. “I feel like something changed today, Stanley. I think I feel at home here,” he said. Stanley thought about this for a moment and said, “Me too. It’s kind of nice not having to talk to you through a ceiling.” The narrator’s lips turned up a bit at that and he reached over and took Stanley’s hand. They sat like this for a few minutes, hand in hand.

“I want to tell you something, Stanley,” the narrator said. He looked at Stanley’s hand in his own and continued, “I really like you, dear boy. I’m glad I met you.” The narrator continued to hold Stanley’s hand, and a few tears rolled down his cheeks. “It is very nice to be able to like someone again.” Stanley could do little other than smile at this. He let go of the narrator’s hand for a minute and went to sit next to his dear friend, wiping the tears from the Narrator’s eyes. Stanley rested his head on the Narrator’s shoulder and hugged the narrator tightly. The narrator wrapped an arm around him as well and the two of them sat that way for a long time.

After a few minutes of silence, the Narrator said, “I would like nothing more than to stay with you, Stanley, forever.”

Stanley chuckled lightly and nodded in understanding. “Me too.” The narrator went quiet before mumbling shyly, “Stanley, you make me feel things. Good things but goodness, is it strange.” Stanley laughed at that. “I’ve never had that happen before. It’s nice.” The narrator smiled at that.

“You make me feel things too, you know,” Stanley said. “How would you describe how I make you feel?” The narrator asked. Stanley blushes and stuttered, “Well, humans call it love, it’s kind of warm and it makes your heart beat fast but it’s really nice and you don’t have to feel the same and I know it’s-” “I feel the same way” the narrator said calmly. Stanley stopped rambling only to turn as red as a strawberry. He was so embarrassed. He said, “We shouldn’t be talking like this.” He didn’t know if making the Narrator feel this way was right. “And yet we do,” the narrator said, meeting Stanley’s eyes. Stanley held the narrator’s face in his hands and hesitantly questioned, “Can I kiss you?”

“Whatever you want,” the narrator replied, leaning in closer.

Stanley kissed the Narrator. It felt nice and right, and he didn’t want to stop. So he didn’t. They kissed, and it just kept getting better. As their lips parted, they smiled at each other. The Narrator placed a hand on Stanley’s chest, leaning towards him, and the two of them continued to hold one another, softly kissing. As they parted, Stanley tackled the Narrator over and his companion groaned. “You’re ridiculous. We were having a moment, Stanley,” he scoffed with no malice. Stanley said nothing as he curled up next to the narrator, half lying on him like a pillow. “Your back’s gonna hurt later, Stanley.” “I know,” Stanley said softly, “but I just want to be with you.” The narrator held him in his arms. “Fair enough. I certainly don’t dislike this.”

Stanley pondered for a moment before asking, “Will you remember this? When this place resets again?”

The narrator pondered himself before answering, “I don’t know, but I will try my hardest.” Stanley’s eyes glazed over and the narrator held his face. “I love you, Stanley. I always will. Even if I forget this. I love you.” Stanley squeezed the narrator tight, “I love you too.”

And with that, they fell asleep, and the world began anew.

I have seen only a few videos and my friend’s ramblings about The Stanley Parable but I’ve decided that whenever the Narrator starts rambling Stanley is just sitting there listening intently like

heart for brains is stanarrator in every way by the way <3 i dont know how else to express this without bitter words but i love you even though you’re such a dumbass please think with your head and not your heart because i dont want you to get hurt by your own choices again

C’est la Chanson sur La Mémory Zone having a verse that says “Don’t make me choose my love” is so interesting to me because what I found most striking upon playing the ultra deluxe content was that it’s (for the most part) pretty straightforward and devoid of choices. Which were like, the entire gimmick of tsp.

I’ve taken it to symbolize the character development between stanley and the narrator between each game. Unless you’re doing bucket stuff or falling in the mostly infinite hole, you aren’t fighting with the narrator at all. Stanley and The Narrator both agree to put aside their differences, both in order to bask in the good ol’ days together, and because they know they don’t have a choice (ha) otherwise. It’s been 9 years since the release of The Stanley Parable for the PC, after all, and both characters are still present and accounted for. There is no escape, the end is never the end, so might as well enjoy what you have instead of trying to tear each other’s throats out.

The skip button is the most notable exception to this, but even that, in a similar way to the og apartment ending, is not at all a choice on your behalf. Yes, you can stand around and let the dialogue loop, but you’re going to have to press it eventually if you want to progress. And the narrator programmed this into the game, part of me thinks he knowsthis.

Or maybe he doesn’t? Maybe he doesn’t remember the lesson of the apartment ending. The confusion ending reveals he’s liable to forget quite often. Maybe, even, that’s why he needs the memory zone. I can’t pretend to know.

The original stanley parable was about the illusion of choice. TSPUD doesn’t feel the need to keep the curtains up any longer. The choices weren’t real anyway, why try to hide it? You don’t get a choice to change the game’s past, and you are not the person in charge of changing the game’s future. The Narrator barely even is. If you’re not in charge, and the narrator’s not in charge, who’s flying the plane?

Alternatively: Stanley, who obeys the whim of The Narrator, is a representation of false free will; feeling like you have a choice even though you are not the authority. The Narrator, who obeys the whim of The Audience, is a representation of obligation; feeling like you have no choice even though you are the authority.